ETC Venues - Expanding The Hospitality Industry, Essay.

About ETC Venues

etc.venues started life in 1992 when its entrepreneurial founder Sally Wilton, frustrated by the poor quality of training venues decided she could do better – as with so many success stories, life started very simply with a small hard working team inspired to make a difference.

Their first venue, Avonmouth House, was opened in South London and was an instant hit – awards poured in and new venues were opened across London. By 2006 the business had 6 venues, sales of £9m and an impressive client base of public and private organisations.

All entrepreneurs get itchy feet and in June 2006 Sally handed over to Alastair Stewart who, backed by Dunedin Capital Partners, arrived to lead the next stage of the

company’s expansion. Millions have been invested in new venues and upgrading and expanding the existing venues, with recent openings focusing more on larger conferences and events with adjacent exhibition space.

They have scooped their fair share of awards over the years, one of their favourites being the PPA awards where the judge’s remarked "...an incredible and varied

portfolio of venues expertly tailored to client's needs, the very professional etc.venues team is an events manager's dream. This is an innovative business model that is reflected in venues that are really moving with the times. An outstanding winner." With the strong backing of new investors Growth Capital Partners, they were recently named by the London Stock Exchange as one of the 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain and by Eventbrite's Pulse Report as the UK's favourite venue host.

They continue to grow hosting 770,000 delegates over the last year with annual sales now over £50m. Their largest venue etc.venues County Hallhas opened across two floors and offers 65,000 sq. ft. of event space, but they are not just opening new venues in London with their first venue in Manchester now open to rave reviews.

They are a fast growing challenger brand that loves great customer service, contemporary design, edgy communication and outwitting their larger rivals. However, what they are still really proud of is to have continued their founding principles to do the simple things well, to put service first, to be green where they can and to be that little bit better than everyone else.

As a recently appointed business development manager for etc venues, you are required to prepare a 3500 word report regarding the growth options for the business. The report should also outline various future trends and development within the hospitality market.

• An overview of the various sectors within the hospitality industry. (LO1)
• Opportunities for internationalisation. (LO2)
• Management issues within hospitality. (LO2)
• HRM and operations. (LO2)
• CSR and sustainability issues. (LO2)
• Future trends and development within the hospitality market. (LO3) 

The report should be based on research into the hospitality industry and should backed up by facts and figures.

The Harvard referencing system must be used for citations and the list of references.

It is recommended that the students use appendices and cross reference them.

Hospitality is actually a kind of relationship between host and the guest. It is actually an act of welcoming the guest with the warm heart to feel them comfortable in all the sense during their stay in the hotel. while venue management is a kind of management in which the employees of the particular hospitality sees the whole arrangement, facilities, and events which are going to be provided to the guest during their stay and make them feel as a king. Hospitality industry today is one of the large and huge industries which have spread its empire worldwide in the connection of providing employment, support to GDP of the country. This Industry consists of all the desired range of small, medium and large size enterprises. This range is not only contributing on the domestic level but also on the international level by providing a lot of job opportunity to the people which have a direct impact on the economic form of the world. The hospitality industry is complex in structure because of its involvement in wide range of categories. These categories include quality of hotel- luxury, mid-range or average, the location of the hotel, tradition of the hotel. As there are many big as well as small players in this industry so the competition is becoming tougher because the hotel service provider has not had to only compete on the international level but also on the domestic level so its human asset should be well trained along with friendly behaviour which is the first consideration in the market of hospitality industry. Today hospitality industry is not only facing challenges from its competitors but also from the external business environment which is changing on dynamic mode. Due to this it has given a strong challenge to the hospitality as well as venue management to update their strategy on regular pattern because the strategy which is working today will not work in the near future so no hospitality company can sit comfortably after developing and executing some business strategy and social media which has come out as a powerful tool in the hands of the customer has a major impact on the image of this industry.

The hospitality industry is known as the wide group of present business which provides services to the guest. It mainly focuses totally on the customer satisfaction part and provides the unique experience to the guest. Hospitality industry also tries to create a unique image in the minds of the potential customer (Study.com, 2018). ETC venues started in 1992 are also in the business of hospitality, generated after seeing the poor quality of venues training. First venue Avon mouth was opened in south London and was the super success and soon was backed by Dunedin capital partners (CHM, 2018).  As hospitality industry is known as the total sum of all the category of the service sector and consists of various sectors like lodging-accommodation, food, and beverage, tour and travel, entertainment and timeshare.

The Growth of ETC Venues

It is actually the main body part of service sector consists of bed and breakfast service to other lodging services. Every year lot of people travel from one place to other and in this traveling, the most important thing is food and transportation. Also during their travel, they need the place to sleep, a luxury suite to stay but with much expense and a place where they can comfortably order their favorite dish to enjoy.

It is also one of the important sectors of the hospitality industry. It acquires top position in the industry. It ranges from the simple food court to a high-end luxury restaurant. There are many sub-categories in this category; it may be quick service, food management, food presentation, beverages and catering businesses.

It is another important category of hospitality management. Traveling from place to place is not easy especially when we are not aware of that place which can cost us lot of money along with time. They have maintained their service through trains, airlines, ships and crew membership services (Chen and Choi, 2008).

It is a significant part of travel nowadays. If we have gone to someplace and we miss fun and entertainment then we will be in a doubt whether we have enjoyed our trip or not. So the success of any trip the need of fun is necessary.  

It is now one of the most viral trends in the hospitality industry. In this, a place is booked or right of that place is given to the customer for some specific time so that they can enjoy their individual service with customized party trend especially popular in youth population (Cook et. al., 2014).

Internationalisation is known as the expanding of available resources and activities in the other countries of the world afar domestic level. As due to globalization the external business environment is on change. The organization should go to the international platform only when the organization has gained enough dominance in the domestic level by creating its brand value and then to earn more profit the organization should jump on the international level (Ayoun et. al, 2010) Similarly, as ETC venues have gained enough names by getting many prestige awards like PPA and also has won the most innovative model process on the domestic level. ETC with the support of Dunedin Capital partner has invested millions of dollar to upgrade and expand the venue. They are also named by London Stock Exchange as one of the best company in Britain among 1000 companies. This outstanding performance motivates ETC venue to go for international level. As today is the time of technology, the company should make use of the latest updated technology with the help of its young generation because it has been seen that around 80% of the world is on internet platform and if the company will be able to convert population in to potential customer that they have use of apps and with the help of marketing mix they have to position their image in the mind of this population (Nadiri and Tanova, 2010). It has been seen that young people are more comfortable with technology as compared to the old one and due to offer of globalization there is very less restriction for any company to go on the global platform.It has to just maintain the procedure – go for joint venture in which company should associate itself with one of the companies of that country in which company want to business, then after seeing the market of that country apply for license from that country to open a franchises of ETC in that country and then after finding that our business is flourishing and company is struggling with the supply phase (Sangpikul, 2009). Finally, go for establishing its own individual forum so that the rising demand of the customers can be fulfilled so as to maintain a self-position in that countries market where the company can enjoy its full profit and did not need to share its profit with other company.

ETC Venues and the Hospitality Industry

As hospitality business is a people-oriented business, so the possibility of conflict is for sure. As, we know that two people cannot have the same mindset or thinking because of their biological difference, their cultural difference or maybe their behavioral difference (Chung and Parker, 2010). As this business is a multicultural business which involves people from all places or from different countries. So, their way of thinking style cannot be same and will give birth to conflicts. So, it is the responsibility of ETC venue to develop self-awareness need in the employees regarding physical and emotional reaction related to the present situation. Mostly regular response to conflict involves: ducking, cooperating, work together and competing (Brochando, et. al., 2016).

Another issue in the hospitality industry is growing competition. So, ETC venue has to handle this issue by providing something unique which is not yet served in the industry and will surely separate ETC venue from rest of the competitors.

Finding and maintaining valued customer. This issue ETC venue can manage by providing the quality food along with the best service like wishing them on their birthday or marriage anniversary and on marriage which forms an emotional attachment with the potential customer because it triggers the emotional sense of the person due to these important functions (Hospitalitynet, 2018).

Produced food is going to waste. This issue ETC venue can manage by making optimizing use of available resources and in case if some food is produced extra then it should be provided to the needed one for free. So, instead of going waste it will serve someone's hunger and at the same time, it will help in creating a unique image in the community that someone cares about humanity which will be free of cost marketing (Mwangi, 2016).

The penalty tax is one of the major issues in hospitality. So, here ETC venue can manage by forming a standard operating procedure by considering the rule and regulation. Make sure that this SOP is strictly followed through the whole organization and also appoint some person who will keep an eye on this issue and try to make aware all the employees the importance of this SOP and the consequences of not following this SOP.

Hospitality industry knows that employees of the company are the most important asset. As concern to hospitality industry, the business process totally runs on the quality, hardworking of dedicated employees. Having a qualified workforce will distinguish the company or organization from other companies or organization (Write pass, 2012). The human resource management department covers almost all the important part related to the human aspect, right from hiring the best employees which will truly contribute to the growth and contribution of the organization. HRM department critically evaluates every possible aspect of the candidate for the interview .HRM department almost covers all possible areas of the organization because of which it is given significant importance to the organization. One of the most important duty or responsibility of the HRM department is to retain the most experienced employee. As, company have invested a lot of money and time in training these employees, which will be waste if they leave the company and also if such experienced employees will leave the company and joins its competitor, then it will be a total disaster because these experienced employees can turn the table on the sides of the competitors through good knowledge and their hand on experience and sometimes the employees do not find their career in the hospitality line and do not want to continue this line further and want to leave (Gruescu, et. al., 2008). So, it becomes a challenging job to retain these employees as compared to those who are interested in this line but want to leave because of no salary hike or the bad working environment. While operation serves as the backbone of the company because it is involved in almost all the process of the company. Similarly, the operation will play the very important role in the working process of the ETC venue. Operation oversees the management of food and related materials. The operation is also responsible for the inventory, supply, and purchasing of the service related materials. Toady role of operation is to make the process run on lean management theory which focuses on minimum waste along with the strategy of continuous improvement because operation believes that a change is very difficult to introduce on immediate bases so it is better to go for step –step change which stresses on slow but continuous change. Operation department also sets goals and objectives for the organization along with the guidelines for how to achieve these goals; they also set the difference between the short-term goal and long-term goal for the company. As concern to ETC venue, their short-term goal is to focus on maintaining their quality on the domestic scale and long-term goal for them is to spread their business empire all over the world or go global through the help of strategic alliances, partnership, and franchise (Write pass, 2012).   

Hospitality Industry Trends

CSR is also known as corporate social responsibility. It is basically a concept where companies decide to work for the welfare of the society with the cleaner environment. Every company believes that whatever they earn is all because of society in which they work. So, it is their duty to give something back to the society in the form of CSR. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not the compulsory duty which every company has to do. It is believed within the company that every company which is working in any business environment is a part of society. CSR gains its popularity in 1960. A company has basically three business dimensions: economic, social and environmental. So, if ETC venue wants to grow it has to give an equal amount of importance to all these three dimensions. The basic concept is that company which is in the operating form has to take care of its surroundings in any form which they want. (Kang, et. al., 2010) A company which is involved in the CSR activity is believed to be one of the most favorable choices for the potential customers because society is in the concept of if someone is taking care of our society, so it is our duty to support that company in the matter of its growth. This believes in not only supported by only potential customers but also the shareholders of that business i.e. vendors, partners, investors and also by its employees (Inoue and Lee, 2010). In present companies are expected to take the responsibility to solve such a problem which appears to be big on the individual level and if the company disregard such activity, then most probably the society will boycott such company. Due to innovation in new technologies, consumers are now more aware of the business behavior and CSR activities of the company. As the consumer is in believe that company and consumer are in the process of impacting positive changes on social and environmental issues of the society. Consumers have always great expectation that they should associate themselves with that company in the term of the business transaction which has a good reputation on the social platform. (Baum, 2008)

As hospitality industry business is associated with the business related to the people and as we know that people are social animals which have to live in a society where they exchange their values, believe ideas and also get influenced from the society. So, the taste of the people changes according to the situation which gives rise to issues. One of the biggest issues in present time for the hospitality is going green. Go Green is related to the environmental profitable. So, the hospitality industry has to go through sustainable growth and it has three basis people, planet, and profit. So, in case of ETC venue, the company has to consider all these aspects into full consideration if they really want to develop themselves (Overton and Lowry, 2013). 

Growth Opportunities for ETC Venues

As the cost of everything has not remained same as it was, so the cost of labor has also increased. This increased cost has almost acquired 44% of the total expenses. This expense cannot be avoided because labors are always in demand. But in this case, ETC can make use of expense management expert which can manage this un- avoided demand in such a way that the effective and efficient use of labor can be utilized in the best possible way to give optimum utilization of available human resources (Baum, 2008).

It is believed that hospitality industry has become overcrowded. As all are in the same business so the market is getting shrunk because every company is fighting for the same piece of cake. So, if ETC has to remain in the market as it positions it has to adopt some competitive strategy may be providing varieties or may be related to price or may be providing something unique which is not been served by any company in this market( Buyers,2017).

In present time everything moves around the numbers. Number act as a benchmark for any exchange may be money, labor, service or use of technology. Data mining plays a big role because it identifies self-generated decision related to the potential customer with the help of technology. But updating this technology is not easy because it requires heavy investment in the count of money and it also wants upgrading the software on the regular base. So, ETC has to manage cost allocation related to the overall expenses (Law and Buhalis, 2010).

For many years, the hospitality industry has been enjoyed the survival with the undisturbed market where progress and revenue was steady year after year. In that situation the big brands were getting much bigger, flourishing their business empire. Then people have started the new trend of hospitality in which they provided their place as an accommodation to those people who are looking for it on the rental basis. This trend does not make assets but makes through meting out fees. So, this model helped people to rent their properties which may go not used. But now the climate is completely changed and even organizations are also aware of the fears of modernization and technology. Actually, it is the time of millennial (Line and Runyan, 2012). This is the world that has a lot of influence on a lot of things. A study was conducted by The Cornell center for hospitality research in which millennial almost present 50% of the hospitality industry. The millennials are not interested in traditional hospitality; they are expecting something different which will separate them from rest of others. So, organizations need to be ready for this trend and should form a strategy on the basis of their demographic habits and traits. As they are in the younger age which indicates that they are interested in more excited hospitality with reasonable price. The study also shows that 21 % of millennials said that they had used tablets to shop instead to visit that place. 87% of millennials said that they make proper use of internet facility for booking. From this study it was found out that half of the world is now connected through mobiles it may be searching for hotel, place or it may be buying some product (Dwyer, et. al., 2009). So, the organization should attach them with the applications related to the mobiles so that they will be able to cover as much larger area as it is the fastest mode of reaching to the population and form the potential customer out of this population. As technology has made things very easy going which has made the people lazy but the same technology has helped to advise the health maintains of the person. According to the study it has been found out that today people are more health conscious and people have become choosy while selecting the hotel as they expecting the facilities related to health like gym, pools (CG Davidson, et. al., 2011). So, this expectation should be kept in mind by these organizations while operating in this business.

International Expansion for ETC Venues

                                                                                           (Source: World Tavel Monitor -2016)

                                                                                        ( Source: World Tavel Monitor -2016)

This trend simply says that the dominance of Asia Pacific is growing in the hospitality market as compared to another region like Europe, America and even Africa & Middle East (Su, et. al., 2013). 

Conclusion 

There is a global increase in the hospitality industry. The trend that is affecting the most is the importance of providing outstanding services to the customer which will support them to form loyal customer base. The new technologies are being used to enhance and improve customer services. The new trend is also involving the policies which are environmentally friendly which will not only save a lot of money but will also help in using the natural resource as one of the most attractive things which will help the organization in attracting more and more customers. From the world tour and travel council, it is clear that Asia Pacific is the world fastest growing region of the world leaving behind Europe and US behind. The future trends in the hospitality industry are including more and more green and eco-lodgings, development of mega hotels with advanced technology and physical social networks to be the best distribution channels. It has been seen that hospitality industry is one of the single largest job provider in the world and as this industry always in need of financial support due to the growing trend and so the present situation of the hospitality industry is of survival trend because large groups are investing huge flow of money on their high advance technology so that they can gain advantage on the other organizations present in the industry. While these movements will form the future of hospitality business, there are some dares for industry leaders that are desirable to overcome with the phase in order to manage with the varying fashions of the industry. The major effort of the industry is now diverted towards environment safety and also the attitude of the people must be adaptive to the revolution. The industrial giants should be open to variation and adopt the overseas systems that are being extremely helpful for the growth of hospitality industry. 

Managing Conflict in the Hospitality Industry

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